Lake elections: Cathy Hoechst wins Mount Dora mayor's race

Retired business leader Cathy Hoechst handily won a three-way race Tuesday for Mount Dora mayor and four incumbent mayors withstood challenges from former mayors as voters went to the polls in seven Lake County cities.

Here's a look at the results:

Mount Dora

Hoechst, a newcomer to politics who recently retired as president of the Mount Dora Area Chamber of Commerce, received 58 percent of the vote in the race to succeed Robert Thielhelm, who didn't seek re-election in the quaint arts-focused city of 12,600.

Trailing her were Randy Wiseman, a retired real-estate broker and former School Board member who collected 32 percent of the vote, and Andrew Mullen, an independent sales and marketing contractor, who got 10 percent.

Hoechst said the campaign was a "challenge" as a "newbie" and she was excited to now focus on future projects affecting the city like construction of the Wekiva Parkway.

"Now, I'm looking forward to Mount Dora's future," she said.

In other City Council races, three incumbents won re-election. Michael Tedder returned to the at-large seat, taking 55 percent over Jon Canas. For the District 1 seat, Ryan Donovan received 54 percent to withstand a challenge from Brian Payne. District 4 councilman Dennis Wood held onto his seat with 61 percent of the vote over Carla Pepperman.

Minneola

Mayor Pat Kelley easily won another term, taking 60 percent of the vote in defeating former mayor David Yeager for a third time. Kelley ousted Yeager, who made news when he was in office with proposals such as an indoor ski slope on Sugarloaf Mountain, in 2009 and then beat him in their first rematch in 2011.

Kelley said he was "humbled" by the turnout and he was looking forward to "great things" in the city.

"I want to thank the residents again and my fellow council members for having a great team and our city manager for leading a great team," he said.

Mascotte

Mayor Tony Rosado survived a rematch with Felix Ramirez, though he didn't receive a majority of the vote among the three candidates. Rosado, who unseated Ramirez in 2011, won this time, too, with 44 percent of the vote. Ramirez fell short with 33 percent, followed by City Council member Barbara Krull, who received 23 percent.

Montverde

The mayor's race was a squeaker, with incumbent Troy Bennett defeating Town Council member Billy Bates by three votes out of 488 cast. Supervisor of Elections Emogene Stegall said there won't be a recount because the margin was not within one-half of 1 percent, which would have triggered another count. Dale Heathman, who served as mayor from 2005 to 2007, and lost a comeback bid for the second time in four years. He wound up with 13 percent. The mayor serves as the town's administrator.

Voters also elected three Town Council members, the top three vote-getters of the four candidates. The winners were Arthur Nix, with 29 percent, incumbent James Pierce with 27 percent and incumbent Glenn Burns with 25 percent.